Chapter Ten

Lisa felt her eyes flutter open, head spinning. She sat up, rubbing her head in confusion and annoyance. Where the hell am I now? she thought impatiently. She concentrated hard on her surroundings. She was apparently in some sort of storeroom, with boxes piled on boxes. Lisa had no interest in knowing what was in them.

"So you're awake, then."

Lisa looked over. Ben was sitting next to her, an expression of fear and concern on his face. Lisa backed against the wall in fear.

"You…" she said, terrified.

Ben reached to touch her arm. "Lisa, calm down-"

"No!" She pulled away, tears threatening to break the surface. "You work for Jackson! You tricked me!" Ben just stared at her, waiting for her to continue. "It was you, I know it…" she put her head between her knees, crying softly. She felt warm arms consume her, and she gave in, despite her mind screaming not to.

"Lisa," Ben said, embracing her, "whatever Jackson told you, I don't work for him. I never wanted to see him again."

Lisa looked up at him. "Again?" she said through her tears.

"Yeah," Ben said, his features darkening. "We've met before."

Lisa could tell just by looking at him that Ben hated Jackson as much as she did. She could trust him. Almost.

"How do you know him?" she asked suspiciously.

"Lisa-"

"Ben, please!" she said. "I need to know."

Ben sighed. "My relationship with him is…complicated."

"Well, uncomplicate it and tell me what the hell is going on," she said, eyes narrowing.

Ben looked at the floor and didn't answer. Lisa slapped him.

"How can I trust you if you can't even tell me why we share the same enemy?" she asked, eyes filling with tears once more.

Ben looked up at her, rubbing where she had slapped him. For a moment he said nothing. Then, "Lisa, I have only lied to you twice." He rubbed his hands together nervously. "One," he said, "I said I hadn't seen my brother recently. That's not true. I have." He shuddered. "Very recently."

"And?" Lisa said impatiently.

"And…" Ben paused, looking as if he might kill himself. "The first time we met." He stopped, anger clear in his eyes. Blue eyes. Cold eyes. Why did that bother Lisa so much?

"What about it?" Lisa asked slowly, almost afraid of his answer.

"I introduced myself as Benigno Curtis." He stopped again. "My last name isn't Curtis. It's…" his eyes were filled with hate and cold, and suddenly Lisa understood what had been nagging at her for the past week. She knew those eyes, she just hadn't recognized them, because they were filled with such kindness…

"Rippner," she said quietly, the puzzle pieces finally fitting.

"Yes," Ben looked at her, his eyes now clear and bright with tears. "Jackson Rippner is my brother."

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Sorry for taking so long to update. My vacation sucked, pretty much, so it wasn't worth it and now I feel like I could kick myself. Apologies also for such a short chapter. I'm having probably the worst case of writer's block at the moment, and it would be longer if I could stop being so tired all the time. Anyway, I am doing two stories now, so it might be harder to keep up the quality of the story so far. Again, writer's block. It sucks. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Will update soon!